1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns baseboards, architectural moldings or the like (hereinafter referred to as "moldings") used to accommodate and protect equipment and in particular electrical equipment and electrical conductors connected thereto, especially when such equipment is to be attached to a wall or any other kind of supporting surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
These moldings are generally extruded from plastics material or metal and comprise a generally U-shape main part with a back and two side flanges and a separate cover adapted to extend transversely from the free edge of one flange of the main part to the free edge of the other flange.
At least one longitudinal rib usually projects from the back of the main part of such moldings so that accessories may be attached thereto, for example lugs for attaching the equipment concerned or boxes adapted to accommodate such equipment.
These ribs can also constitute rails, for example rails complying with the EN 500 35 or EN 500 22 standard, adapted to support the equipment directly, the latter being snap-fastened to them.
The normal construction is such that these ribs extend all along the length of the main part of the molding comprising them.
In some moldings it is usual to provide longitudinal partitions projecting from the back to subdivide the interior of the main part in order, for example, to separate high-current equipment from low-current equipment.
At present such partitions are usually rigidly attached to the back of the molding, being in one piece therewith,
As a result, the subdivision of the interior space of the main part of such moldings into compartments is fixed once and for all, with no possibility of modification and therefore of adaptation to new requirements.
There is usually associated with a molding of this kind at present a single cover extending in one piece from one side flange to the other.
A particular result of this is that removing the cover to obtain access to one of the internal compartments of the molding also gives unnecessary access to the other internal compartments thereof, to the detriment of safety.
The document FR-A No. 2,473,226 describes removable partitions adapted to be attached by means of a "foot" to a rib on the back of the molding. Their "heads" are adapted to be attached together transversely by so-called "part covers" which in reality are no more than simple crossmembers adapted to locate the partitions, the whole being capped in the usual way by a cover.
In any event, the nesting means provided on the removable partitions for cooperation with the "sub-covers" are of a different kind from those provided on the side flanges of the molding concerned to cooperate with the cover, and in practise they are of the opposite configuration from these.
In other words, in this document FR-A No. 2,473,226 the cover is not able to cooperate nesting fashion with the removable partitions used.
What is more, the "sub-covers" associated with the latter are all identical, which limits the possible configurations in which the removable partitions can be fitted.
A general object of the present invention is a molding which does not have this disadvantage and which has other advantages.